Rochester, NY: Don't go to Rochester without checking the Strong Museum Very nice dollhouse collection plus extensive 19th century home furnishings and equipment. Website is http://www.strongmuseum.org Phone 716-263-2700 Now since last night I have checked the web site and find almost NO mention of miniatures. It's maybe 8 years since I was there, so please phone ahead and make sure they still have the dollhouses. Margaret Strong was the only child of a wealthy Rochester family. She was taken annually to Europe, with the Nanny to care for her. Each day they went shopping and the Nanny told her she could shop until this little bitty bag was full....hence the love for miniatures. As an adult she branched out into other collections. At her death, she left the collections to the city, along with funds to build the museum. That was maybe 10 years ago. The "surplus" miniatures were auctioned off and the best kept for the museum. I certainly hope they are still there in spite of no mention on the web site.

Ginger in PA

½ Scale Miniature Cars: Just got a catalog in the mail called "Catalog Favorites". For those of you that are doing 1/2 scale there is a 1923 Ford Model B in either black or red. There are also some miniature pedal cars for 1" scale, but they seem to be on back order. Anyway, this is the address if you want to check it out: http://www.catalogfavorites.com or their toll free # is 1-800-221-1133.

Sharon in Watsonville CA

Half Inch Scale: I have upholstered furniture, bassinets, slippers, plants and woven baskets in half scale which I will be premiering at the St. Louis Show. Some of the things can be seen on my web site under Small Scale. I will be working on more items after the show and eventually everything will be on my web page http://MrsArt.homestead.com.

Jennie in San Antonio TX

¼ Scale: I have just completed a new catalog for 1/4" scale only. I now have available items from Suzanne Andrews, Grandt Line, Model Builders Supply, Dee's Delights, Northeastern, Scale Card, Mustard Seed and Robin Betterley. If interested in this FREE catalog, please contact me directly Dollhousecorner@cs.com.

Marlene

¼ Scale: I meant to tell you about Pam Scott's Little Enough News also, Pam's URL, where you can see what her newsletter is all about, and find some free projects: http://members.aol.com/daisy21/pam/index.html

Kaye in LA

Cardboard Dollhouses: I have a very good book written by Dorie Krusz called Building Miniature Houses And Furniture in which she builds the entire house from poster board. My wife and I had completed 5 rooms in this method. (Modular) but during moving the movers destroyed them. This method works very well and is light weight besides

Gene from Olney, IL

Book Bashing: To make your book into a box, take the cover off the book and make a cardboard box to fit the book. I have found second hand some Reader's digest books that are hollow for keeping things in secretly, they have regular book jackets on them. I currently have 2 of those not used yet as I have one book/box commercially made about the same, I got it at a Rite Aide Drug Store that I am preparing as a vignette for one of my children.

Rhoda from Whidbey Island WA

1880 Schoolhouse: For pictures on a schoolhouse wall in the US of any era I would think that George Washington (the unfinished one with what looks like a cloud at the bottom portion), but for that specific era, you could include one of the more current presidents: Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865, Ulysses S. Grant 1869-1877, Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-1881, Chester A. Arthur 1881-1885, Grover Cleveland 1885-1889, Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893. But then you did say that it was to be set in Tennessee. This was not long after the War Between the States, so you could go with Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, etc. LOL

Rusty

1880 Schoolhouse: I'd bet on two pictures: Lincoln and Washington. (I used them in a classroom vignette I did for DWSW.) Actually, I copied a $1 and a $5 bill, and cropped the pictures down to just the oval of George and Abe and then matted them and framed them. They made great "portraits", and as long as I didn't try to use my copies to pay for the supplies, the government was okay about it, too…

George Held, Cedar Rapids

1880 Schoolhouse: I coordinated research for a book on Schools and Churches in West TN several years ago for the Catholic church and found such great history on many of the schools in this decade. I collected information from 1540 to present. The decor on the walls in 1870-1880 were limited to how much a school could afford - some rural schools used a large easel for a chalk board because many schools could not afford one. The school decor contained portraits of President Washington, Benjamin Franklin, the map of the United States, and the alphabet.

Elizabeth Smith